the ---- Frontier Force when in search of
an enemy whose discretion is only rivalled by that of the German High
Seas Fleet. We moved out four days ago with all the pomp of war--horse,
foot and guns, ambulances and long trains of transport waggons, the
fierce vivid fighting of the desert before us. We rode seventeen miles
that day and camped at some wells. As we rolled ourselves in our
blankets round the camp-fires to rest for the glorious contest of the
morrow our hearts should have been filled with dreams of undying fame.
But we were really wondering when the squadron transport would arrive
with our porridge and sausages for breakfast.

Next morning we were in the saddle by 3 A.M., and after some ten or
twelve hours of unbroken and undisputed progress we captured two Arab
shepherds in charge of as many as eight sheep. This _succes fou_ was the
cause of justifiable satisfaction.

In the first place we scented liver and bacon for breakfast. In the
second place it seemed to promise a settlement of the long-standing
dispute between me and the General. The General has a preposterous
theory about the existence and hostility of a vast number of mythical
Arabs in our immediate neighbourhood. Now this is obviously absurd. With
the exception of three palm-trees, which belong to us, there is nothing
but sand for about two hundred miles in all directions, and even an Arab
cannot subsist entirely on sand. Of course, if there were any Arabs near
us, they would be so enraged at finding themselves at a spot two hundred
miles from anything except sand that they would be violently hostile to
anyone, especially to the people who had engaged the only three
palm-trees in the neighbourhood. But it is their existence that I
dispute with the General. It is true he took a most unfair dialectical
advantage, about a fortnight ago, by having a large battle. But my
contention is that the enemy on this occasion were merely orange-sellers
from the nearest town, hired by the General for the purpose of argument.

These two shepherds, however, did seem to support his theory of the
existence of Arabs, but as to their hostility there was still room for
doubt. They were both extraordinarily old and unbelievably dirty. Also
they were, as was very natural, extremely frightened. Seeing that they
knew themselves to be the only living people for quite a number of miles
round, it must have appeared to them that the entire ---- Frontier Force
had come out sol